60 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



fended. It is made and afiranged in a very peculiar manner. The 

 cuirass looks as if a number of squared plates of horn had been 

 sewn upon short lengths of tape, and then the tape bands laid side 

 by side and fastened to each other. It is not fixed to the animal 

 throughout its whole extent, as might be supposed, but is only at- 

 tached along the spine, and on the top of th^ head. It does not 

 merely protect the back, but, when it reaches the insertion of the 

 tail, turns suddenly downward as if on hinges, and forms a kind 

 of flap over the hind-quarters, which are short and square, as if 

 abruptly cut off by a perpendicular blow with a sharp instrument. 

 This arrangement affords a perfect protection to the hind-quarters 

 while the animal is burrowing, and effectually repels any attack 

 that might be made from the rear, reminding the observer of the ' 

 shell with which the testacella is furnished. 



This coat 'of mail is as flexible as the chain or scale armor of 

 the olden times, and accommodates itself to every movement of 

 the animal. The rest of the body is covered with a coat of soft, 

 yellowish fur, nearly as fine as that of the mole, and much longer, 

 but not so dense. The scientific name of the Pichiciago relates 

 to the mail-clad body and the peculiar form of the hind-quarters, 

 the generic title signifying "mantle -bearer," and the specific 

 name, " abruptly shortened." 



The Armadillo can run with considerable speed, and some 

 species are^aid to fee able to outstrip a man. This may possibly 

 be the case in the native country of the animal, but those speci- 

 mens which have been brought to England in a living state would 

 certainly be overtaken by a man of ordinary powers. They get 

 over the ground at a sharp pace, using a queer little jog-trot kind 

 of movement, and display an easy flexibility of body and agility 

 of limbs, which never fail' to astonish those who have onl;^ seen 

 the stiffened specimens in a museum. 



They are mostly nocturnal animals, concealing themselves in 

 their burrows by day, and coming out at night to search for food. 

 The burrows in which they live are generally about thirteen or 

 fourteen feet in length, descending in an abruptly sloping direc- 

 tion for some three or four feet, and then taking a sudden bend • 

 and inclining slightly upward. In these subterranean homes the 

 mother Armadillo produces and nurtures her young, which are 

 on an average about four or five in number. 



All the Armadillos are natives of the tropical and temperate 

 regions of South America. 



